San José State University
Department of Environmental Studies
ENVS 119, Energy and the Environment, Section 01, Fall 2011
Instructor:
Office Location:
Telephone:
Email:
Office Hours:
Class Days/Time:
Classroom:
Prerequisites:
Dustin Mulvaney, Ph.D.
115C Washington Hall
408.924.5432
Dustin.Mulvaney@sjsu.edu
Thursday 2–4 pm
Tuesday, Thursday 4:30–5:45 pm
Clark Building 318
ENVS 001
Faculty Web Page and MYSJSU Messaging
Copies of the course materials such as the syllabus, assignments, readings, and handouts may be found on my faculty web
page at http://www.sjsu.edu/people/dustin.mulvaney or accessible through the Quick Links>Faculty Web Page links on the
SJSU home page. You are responsible for regularly checking with the messaging system through MySJSU.
Course Description
In this course you will be introduced to the nexus of social, technical, and environmental challenges to providing sustainable
energy supplies and patterns of use. You will learn physical principles underlying power generation, conventional forms of
energy and their social and environmental impacts, sources of renewable energy, and means to transition to more sustainable
energy sources. The political, economic, cultural, historical, and policy dimensions of energy procurement, generation, and
consumption will show how energy issues are entangled in deeper social and environmental contexts. Human civilization
cannot continue using energy at our present rate of consumption; we must look for ways to decrease our energy use.
This course is divided into five parts. Part 1 reviews energy generation and consumption patterns and the scientific principles
related to energy, heat, and work. Part II of this course explores various sources of energy from conventional forms of
energy generation and their social and environmental impacts. Part III focuses on renewables including solar, wind, biomass,
wave, tidal, hydroelectric, and geothermal. Part IV centers on questions about making infrastructure more sustainable: food
systems, transportation, and buildings. In part V, we will synthesize planning efforts and proposals for making sustainable
energy transitions.
Course Goals and Student Learning Objectives
At the end of this course, students should be able to:
• Understand the nexus of energy challenges and relevant economic, social, and environmental issues.
• Describe the physical principles related to the energy, heat, power, and work
• Complete basic calculations / conversions in energy, heat, power, and work
• Describe the scientific properties and spatial distribution of conventional and renewable energy sources
• Analyze the relative energy use in U.S. to other nations, and the forces that shift the mix of energy sources over
time
• Describe basic principles to improve efficiency and design of energy delivery, recognize opportunities to reduce
energy consumption, and promote sustainability;
• Assess basic economic, government policy, and social equity dimensions of energy options
• Utilize tools to evaluate an energy option and assess alternatives.
Energy and the Environment, ENVS 119, Fall 2011
Page 1 of 5
Required Text
Randolph, J. and Masters, G. (2008). Energy for Sustainability: Technology, Planning, Policy. Washington, DC: Island Press. ISBN:
1597261033
Electronic book: http://catalog.sjlibrary.org/record=b4103047~S1
Other Readings
Cockburn, A. 2011. In Fukushima's Wake: How the Greens Learned to Love Nuclear Power. New Left Review 68:75–79.
Darley, J. 2004. High Noon for Natural Gas. Chelsea Green, 47–67.
Fargione, et al. 2008 “Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt” Science 1–4..
Food and Agriculture Organization. 2006. “Livestock in the Carbon Cycle.” Livestock’s Long Shadow. Rome: 84–101.
Goodell, J. 2006. “The Saudi Arabia of Coal.” Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future. New York: Mariner
Books, 3-20.
Heineman, Ben. 2011. Can the Fracking Industry Self-Regulate? the Atlantic Monthly.
Jones, V. 2008. “A Green New Deal.” in The Green Collar Economy.
Kuletz, V. 1998. “The View from Yucca Mountain.” in The Tainted Desert: Environmental Ruin in The American West. New York:
Routledge: 123–58.
Magdoff, F. 2008. “The political economy and ecology of biofuels” Monthly Review July/August: 34–50.
MIT. 2007. The Future of Coal “Chapter 4: Geological Carbon Sequestration,” <<http://web.mit.edu/coal>>
O'Rourke, D., and S. Connolly. 2003. Just oil? The distribution of environmental and social impacts of oil production and
consumption. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 28:587–617.
Reece, E. 2005. “Death of a mountain: Radical strip mining and the leveling of Appalachia,” Harpers Magazine April: 41-60.
Reisner, Marc. 1990. Chapter 4. The American Nile. Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water. New York:
Penguin.
White, R. 1986. The Organic Machine. Chapter 2 “The Power of the River.”
Wolfson, R. 2008. Energy, Environment, Climate. New York: W.W. Norton.
Zweibel, et al. 2007. “A Solar Grand Plan.” Scientific American: 64–73.
Library Liaison, Peggy Cabrera, peggy.cabrera@sjsu.edu
Classroom Protocol
You are expected to come to every class on time. Classroom participation will be reflected in your final grade. No cell phone,
emailing, or text messaging during class. If you need to make a phone call or send an email, please excuse yourself from class.
Dropping and Adding
Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the
current semester’s Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be
found on the current academic calendar web page located at
http://www.sjsu.edu/academic_programs/calendars/academic_calendar/. The Late Drop Policy is available at
http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for
dropping classes. Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at
http://www.sjsu.edu/advising.
Energy and the Environment, ENVS 119, Fall 2011
Page 2 of 5
Assignments
5%
Stay engaged with current events related to energy policy. Bring a news story to class twice over the semester and we
will discuss it at the start of class. Prepare a few remarks as we’ll want to know more than just the headline. There are many
sources of news and information on energy, climate change, and the environment. You may want to set up an RSS feed. New
York Times Environment Section; The Guardian of London; San Francisco Chronicle; San Jose Mercury News; Wall Street
Journal, etc., all more or less decent websites.
10% Participation. Share your thoughts about the readings, ask thoughtful questions, answer discussion prompts. Keeping
good notes about the main points or views taken by authors is a good means a facilitating a sustained discussion. You will
also be asked to work in small groups now and then in class, and you will be expected to be a contributing member to your
group.
5%
Prepare for class and keep a notebook. Come to class having completed the readings and something important in
your notebooks. Students will be called upon in class, and marked for preparations. Keep an organized notebook and
maintain short annotations on the readings. You should have this in all of your information in one place when you come to
class. Make sure to bring the assigned readings each class. You will you write a short summary of every article and keep notes
on conversions, statistics, and other information on energy. If you take notes in the margins make sure to transfer important
ones to your notebook. These notebooks may be evaluated to gauge your engagement with the readings and lectures.
30% Assignments: As part of the activities in this class, you will complete five activities (as shown in the figure below).
More details about each activity will be distributed in class.
Assignment
1
2
3
4
5
Topic
Description
Fundamentals of Energy, heat and work This homework will include questions and problems from Randolph
and Masters.
Energy Metrics
Explore how metrics such as carbon footprints are constructed and
their effectiveness at characterizing your impact on the climate system.
Life Cycle Analysis
Understand how life cycle analysis works and why boundary making is
so critical to making it an effective tool.
Benefits and burdens of renewable
Research one renewable energy technology and discuss its local
energy
impacts, social and technical challenges, and possible contribution to
sustainability.
Energy Policy Memo
Prepare a memo for a newspaper or journal that makes a particular
position on an energy issue facing policy-makers.
10% Midterm: Both the midterm and the final exams will be open notebook. The tests will include short answers and
essay questions. However, you will not have access to any electronic devices (other than a calculator) and you will not have
access to the Desire2Learn site. You must bring a calculator to the examinations. To study for the tests, you should review
the readings, course lecture notes, homework, and learning objectives well in advance of the test date. The midterm will
include material covered during the first portion of the class. We will include both multiple choice and problems related to
the scientific principles of energy, heat, and work. You are encouraged to review the problems sets before the midterm.
20%
Final Research Paper: Students will individually write a research paper related to renewable or conventional
energy technologies. More details on this assignment will be available on the course website.
20%
Comprehensive Final Exam: There will be a comprehensive final exam.
Course Grading
The course grade will be determined based on a total 100 possible points from . Accumulated points that fall within the
grade scale below determine your semester grade.
A+ 97–100
C 72–76
A 92–96
C- 69–71
A- 89–91
D+ 67–68
B+ 86–88
D 64–66
B 81–85
D- 60–64
B- 79–80
F < 60
C+ 76–78
University policy on academic integrity
Your commitment as a student to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University’s
Academic Integrity policy, located at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/S07-2.htm, requires you to be honest in all your academic
course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical
Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.
Energy and the Environment, ENVS 119, Fall 2011
Page 3 of 5
Instances of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Cheating on exams or plagiarism (presenting the work of another as
your own, or the use of another person’s ideas without giving proper credit) will result in a failing grade and sanctions by the
University. For this class, all assignments are to be completed by the individual student unless otherwise specified. If you
would like to include your assignment or any material you have submitted, or plan to submit for another class, please note
that SJSU’s Academic Policy S07-2 requires approval of instructors.
Campus policy in compliance with the American Disabilities Act
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in
case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours.
Presidential Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the
Disability Resource Center (DRC) at http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/ to establish a record of their disability.
Other Campus Resources
• Computer labs for student use are available in the Academic Success Center located on the 1st floor of Clark
Hall and on the 2nd floor of the Student Union. Additional computer labs may be available in your
department/college. Computers are also available in the Martin Luther King Library. A wide variety of audio-visual
equipment is available for student checkout from Media Services located in IRC 112.
• The Learning Assistance Resource Center (LARC) is located in Room 600 in the Student Services Center. It is
designed to assist students in the development of their full academic potential and to inspire them to become
independent learners. The Center's tutors are trained and nationally certified by the College Reading and Learning
Association (CRLA). They provide content-based tutoring in many lower division courses (some upper division) as
well as writing and study skills assistance. Small group, individual, and drop-in tutoring are available. Please visit the
LARC website for more information at http://www.sjsu.edu/larc/.
• The SJSU Writing Center is located in Room 126 in Clark Hall. It is staffed by professional instructors and upperdivision or graduate-level writing specialists from each of the seven SJSU colleges. Our writing specialists have met
a rigorous GPA requirement, and they are well trained to assist all students at all levels within all disciplines to
become better writers. The Writing Center website is located at http://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter/about/staff/.
• The Peer Mentor Center is located on the 1st floor of Clark Hall in the Academic Success Center. The Peer
Mentor Center is staffed with Peer Mentors who excel in helping students manage university life, tackling problems
that range from academic challenges to interpersonal struggles. On the road to graduation, Peer Mentors are
navigators, offering “roadside assistance” to peers who feel a bit lost or simply need help mapping out the locations
of campus resources. Peer Mentor services are free and available on a drop –in basis, no reservation required. The
Peer Mentor Center website is located at http://www.sjsu.edu/muse/peermentor/
ENVS 119 - Energy and the Environment, Fall 2011, Tuesday/Thursday 4:30–5:45
The schedule and content is subject to change with fair notice
Read before class
Date
Topic
Aug 25
Introduction, Syllabus,
Thurs
Energy dilemmas and challenges
(1) Mumford, Carboniferous
Aug 30
Energy Use Patterns and Impacts
Capitalism. (2) Randolph and
Tues
Masters Ch 1
Sept 1
Energy Sources and Sustainability
Randolph & Masters Ch 2
Thurs
Sept 6
Energy Futures
Randolph & Masters Ch 3
Tues
Sept 8
Energy Science: Mechanical, Thermal,
Randolph & Masters Ch 4.1–5
Thurs
Chemical
Sept 13
Energy Science: Solar, Nuclear, Electrical
Randolph & Masters Ch 4.6–9
Tues
Sept 15
Life Cycle Analysis
Randolph & Masters Ch 5
Thurs
Sept 20
Centralized Power Systems
Randolph & Masters Ch 9
Tues
(1) Reece, Death of a mountain. (2)
Sept 22
Coal
Goodell, The Saudi Arabia of Coal.
Thurs
(3) MIT, the Future of Coal.
Energy and the Environment, ENVS 119, Fall 2011
Assignments
Assignment 1
DUE
Assignment 2
DUE
Film: Coal
Country
Page 4 of 5
Sept 27
Tues
Sept 29
Thurs
Oct 4
Tues
Oct 6
Thurs
Oct 11
Tues
Oct 13
Thurs
Oct 18
Tues
Oct 20
Thurs
Oct 25
Tues
Oct 27
Thurs
Nov 1
Tues
Nov 3
Thurs
Nov 8
Tues
Nov 10
Thurs
Nov 15
Tues
Nov 17
Thurs
Nov 22
Tues
Nov 29
Tues
Dec 1
Thurs
Dec 6
Tues
Dec 8
Thurs
Dec 12–
16
(1) Darley, High Noon for Natural
Gas. (2) Heineman, Can the
fracking industry self-regulate?
(1) Kuletz, The View from Yucca
Mountain. (2) Wolfson, Ch 7:
Nuclear Energy. (3) Cockburn, In
Fukushima’s Wake.
(1) White, The Power of the River.
(2) Reisner, The American Nile.
Natural Gas
Nuclear Power
Hydro-electric Power
Distributed Energy Sources
Randolph & Masters Ch 10
Wind Energy
Randolph & Masters Ch 12
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Energy
Randolph & Masters Ch 11
Solar Thermal Energy
Zweibel, A Solar Grand Plan
(1) Randolph & Masters Ch 14 (2)
Magdoff, The political economy
and ecology of biofuels (3)
Fargione, Land clearing and the
biofuel carbon debt
Wolfson, Ch 8.1–8.4, Energy from
Earth and Moon
Wolfson, Ch 8.5, Ocean Energy
Resources
Food and Agriculture
Organization, Livestock in the
Carbon Cycle.
Bioenergy
Geothermal Energy
Wave and Tidal Resources
Energy and Food Systems
Film: Cadillac
Desert
Assignment 3
DUE
Assignment 4
DUE
MIDTERM
Oil & Transportation
O’Rourke & Connolly, Just Oil?
Sustainable Transportation, Hydrogen
economy
Energy Efficiency for Residential and
Commercial Buildings
Randolph & Masters Ch 13
Randolph & Masters Ch 6
Solar/Embodied Energy for Buildings
Randolph & Masters Ch 7 & 8
Energy and Land
Randolph & Masters Ch 15
Technology, Policy, and Social
Innovations
Randolph & Masters Ch 16
Energy Policy: federal, state, & utility
Randolph & Masters Ch 17
Sustainable Energy Transitions
(1) Randolph & Masters Ch 18 (2)
Jones 2008. A Green New Deal.
Student Presentations and wrap up
discussion
Assignment 5
DUE
Research
Paper
FINAL EXAM (Dec 12–16)
Energy and the Environment, ENVS 119, Fall 2011
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